The present invention relates to a roller-blind which is suitable for use in conjunction with a hollow, transparent insulated panel. The roller-blind includes a roller which is built into a housing which is open on its longitudinal side. The roller is driven by an electric motor arranged within the housing and a curtain or blind which can be wound and unwound is provided on the roller. The roller-blind and insulated panel are joined to permit the blind to move up and down within the insulated panel. Furthemore, the invention relates to the combination of the hollow transparent, insulated panel with the roller-blind.
Various types of insulated transparent window or door panes are known. Typically, two or more panes are bonded or pressed together so that the inside of the unit becomes air-tight.
Roller-blinds are furthermore known which include a curtain comprising reflective material, for example, a material or foil which can provide protection against the sun. The properties of such or similar foils for heat insulation are well known. Foils which are transparent to the spectral range of the sun's rays but which have very low emissivity are also known. In prior art devices, such foils are clamped rigidly between the panes.
Prior are devices have various drawbacks. Thus, for instance, foils containing reflecting materials behind the panes frequently cause condensation of water on the glass. Permanent protection devices are certainly highly effective in certain situations but they may produce a detrimental effects under some weather conditions.
The prior art also teaches insulated panels in which one or more roller-blind devices are arranged in the spaces between the panes. These known panels must, by definition, be tightly sealed off to prevent outside fluid from entering therein. To date, however, the production of operational insulated panels with movable blinds therein has not been successfully demonstrated. No structural proposals which teach a practical solution are known (Federal Republic of Germany No. OS 27 49 418).
U.S. Pat. No. 3,253,644 discloses a double insulated panel with an interior completely closed off from the outside and an attached foldable slats blind in the interior which can be brought together or pulled apart from the outside by means of magnets. Because actuation is from the outside by means of magnets, if resistance develops in the movement mechanism of the slat blind, it can no longer be moved from its stuck position. Furthermore, the construction shown for the insulated panel is not optimally designed for the installation of roller-blinds, in the sense that it cannot be produced a priori as a prefabricated unit in the factory.
German patent document No. OS 29 35 982 shows a multipane insulated panel with a housing for supporting a roller-blind device. The housing is of rectangular cross section, open on one side and located at the upper closure of the double insulated panel. In this case the drive of the roller-blind or roller and the curtain which can be wound onto and off of it is actuatable from the outside, requiring introduction of the actuating shaft from the outside into the inside of the housing in an air tight manner. This design, provides a poor sealed connection at best between the roller-blind housing and the double insulated panel. Additionally, the connection is subject to malfunction over time since the air seal which is perhaps initially effective becomes worn by the movement of the drive shaft and thus only temporary air tightness between the window panes and the roller-blind housing is possible. The danger of penetration of moist air and condensation on the inside of the panes of glass as well as of dust and the like is therefore present with this design.
Another insulated panel construction of the screening off of light is known from German patent document No. OS 2 314 013, in which a roller-blind device is installed between two panes of a double insulated panel window. This construction has a space between the two window panes which makes it possible to place the entire roller-blind in wound condition between the panes. It has been found in practice, however, that such large spacings between the panes are undesirable since they result in considerable difficulties, particularly with regard to stability. Therefore, the most effective insulated panel windows provide for a spacing on the order of 12 to 15 mm, a space which is insufficient for installing a roller-blind therein.